The present invention relates to a temperature-stabilized MEMS device and, in particular, it concerns a temperature-stabilized MEMS device in which heat is generated by ohmic heating by an electric current passing through at least part of one of the structural layers of the device.
MEMS devices such as accelerometers and gyroscopes are temperature sensitive, mainly because of the temperature dependence of the Young modulus of silicon. One approach to minimizing temperature sensitivity of such devices is by heating the MEMS device so as to maintain it at a stable temperature above a maximal expected environmental temperature, e.g. at 90° C. A device employing this approach is sometimes referred to as “ovenized”.
Conventional approaches for producing ovenized MEMS devices typically require additional processing steps during manufacture to form heating elements, thereby adding complexity, time and/or costs to the manufacturing process.